Psalm 17:8
8 Keep [shamar] me as the apple ['iyshown] of the eye [bath], [`ayin] hide [cathar] me under the
shadow [tsel] of thy wings, [kanaph] KJV-Interlinear
8 Keep
me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Thy wings, NASB
Keep, ‘shamar,’ means to
guard, defend, protect as one would do so for something that is the most
valuable and precious. To go to any and all
lengths with no limit, even to the point of ones own death, to maintain and
retain a highly valued possession.
Apple of the eye, is an
expression consisting of the first word for apple, ‘iyshown,’ which means
little man.
Eye, ‘bath,’ means the
pupil or the little opening in the center of the eye, the lens through which the
rays of light carrying the image of the object seen, through the eye and reflect
it as on a mirror into the mind.
This then means the
object seen, the little man, becomes the image seen through the opening of the
eye and is reflected as on a mirror and so the person sees his own image
reflected in the miniature. So it is the
symbolism of seeing oneself in the image of the object being seen.
That is, God seeing
Himself in us. And how is that possible?
In the previous verses we
know that the mature believer is the object being described. The mature believer is one who maintains his
life in fellowship, and in which doctrine has been taught, and thus learned,
and thus understood, and thus utilized in the daily life. This usage develops into divine production,
which is the accessorizing of a soul built with doctrine.
Therefore, God seeing
Himself in us, means God seeing His truth and His production which has been
developed in us. For, of our own self,
we have nothing that would impress God, but God is impressed by the vastness of
truth and that is the object in which we have come into possession by means of
our daily commitment to the study of doctrine.
This is nothing that we
do, nothing that we accomplish on our own, but the work of doctrine that
accomplishes all within us.
Your value, resides in
the doctrine that you possess. No study,
no doctrine, no value.
To hide under the shadow
of the wings, likewise is an expression of protection. Taken from the actions of birds. The birds take their young and gather them
under their wings for the purpose of their protection. And so God takes believers under His
protection and preserves and guards them against all enemies.
Both expressions are
taken from Deut. 32:10-12. Other
relevant passages are, Ps 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 63:7; 91:1,4.
Therefore, as a mature
and/or growing believer, you are extremely valuable to God. God makes you the single most valuable object
above all other things, because of the doctrine in you, which is made possible because
of your attitude in pursuing doctrine in a legitimate fashion, not one by means
of selfish or self-centered motivation.
As an unbeliever, you
have no value because you have no spiritual life. Your destiny is eternal disposal via the Lake
of Fire. Garbage is thrown out.
However, once you have
believed in Christ, then your value begins and only increases as you grow up
spiritually.
Believing in Christ, simply
means that you recognize who and what Jesus Christ actually is. You believe Him to be God, designated as the Son
of God. You believe Him to be the Savior,
that He went to the Cross and paid the price for the sins of humanity, that He
died and was resurrected and ascended into heaven and is now sitting at the
right hand of the Father, in the place of highest honor and authority and
sovereignty and power.
Unbelievers do not believe
any of this, reject all of this, or make Jesus out to be something less than
God, such as just another historical figure or some sort of prophet, or they
reject Him altogether.
Once you have believed in
Christ, then you simply know His true identity and believe it. Your salvation is secure, even if at some
time in the future you have doubts and decide to reject Him for whatever
reason. Once saved, always saved.
When you believed in Christ,
that first instance of faith occurred in a moment of time. Most folks most probably do not know when
that exact first moment was, even though they at some later time made a
conscious decision to believe in Christ and believe that the later time was
their moment of belief. It really makes
no difference. Saved is saved and
reinforcing that concept is more of an emotional reinforcement in the
individual and that is certainly ok.
When you were saved, God
created a human spirit in you and imputed eternal life into that human
spirit. That is what is termed as being
born again. The birth or creation of the
human spirit. It was not felt, nor can
it be measured nor detected by any human means.
It is just there. You typically
learn about this at some time after your salvation, perhaps years after. Just as when you were born physically, you knew
nothing then and did not know much of anything until many years later, perhaps
in grade school or later in life when you began to process life's experiences
and awareness within your own mind.
But likewise, after your
physical birth, you have to grow up. And
that takes time and knowledge and experience.
The same is true with doctrine and your spiritual life. But in the spiritual life, your growth is
totally dependent on your attitude toward God, doctrine and your obedience to
His will and process for that growth.
And in this regard, most believers fail because they get caught up in
the emotional aspects of life rather than in the procedural process of
spiritual growth.
Spiritual growth leads to
maturity. No growth means continued
immaturity. The apple of the eye, the
wings of protection are directed at the mature, or the growing believer. For it is their destiny to receive, to
inherit the vast rewards of eternity.
The immature believer is still in heaven and the recipient of phenomenal
blessings, but the spiritually mature individual will be the recipient of much,
much, much more.
Just as a child lacks
confidence and wisdom due to their immaturity, so too the spiritually immature believer
will have difficulty in their spiritual life with regard to confidence and
reassurance.
However, the growing
believer, develops confidence through knowledge and awareness through doctrine,
and sooner or later develops confidence which becomes the muscle and strength
and foundation of their faith.
You pursue doctrine, you support
doctrine, you share doctrine. Your life's
meaning and purpose grows and blossoms.
And all thanks to the grace of God, who now is able to see Himself in
you.
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